[…]But human brains are still better than supercomputers in some respects.

ASCI Purple will have 50 terabytes (trillion bytes) of memory; Morvec estimates a brain to have a 100-terabyte capacity.

Brains are portable; ASCI Purple will be the size of 197 refrigerator-size boxes covering 8,900 square feet (about the size of two basketball courts) and will weigh 197 tons. The average brain is 56 cubic inches and weighs 3.3 pounds.

The human brain is distinguished by its ability to think and create in addition to simply processing information quickly, said Wise Young, director of the Keck Neuroscience lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey.